World News in brief for June 27, 2012

Gunmen have attacked the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV station killing seven employees and kidnapping others; A court has upheld most of a massive fine levied against Microsoft by the European Commission’s competition watchdog, closing a case against the software giant that began in 1998 and A US judge has ordered Samsung to halt sales of its Galaxy 10.1 tablet computer while the court considers Apple’s claim that the South Korean tech giant illegally copied the design of the popular iPad.

SYRIA: Gunmen have attacked the headquarters of a pro-government Syrian TV station killing seven employees and kidnapping others.

Al-Ikhbariya is privately-owned but strongly supports president Bashar Assad’s regime.

EUROPE: A court has upheld most of a massive fine levied against Microsoft by the European Commission’s competition watchdog, closing a case against the software giant that began in 1998.

The General Court of the European Union rejected Microsoft’s appeal against the fine levied in 2008, but did trim it by 39 million euros to 860 million euros (£687m). Counting two earlier fines, the case has wound up costing Microsoft a grand total of 1.64 billion euros (£1.3bn).

AMERICA: A US judge has ordered Samsung to halt sales of its Galaxy 10.1 tablet computer while the court considers Apple’s claim that the South Korean tech giant illegally copied the design of the popular iPad.

District Judge Lucy Koh said Apple’s lawsuit appeared likely to prevail.

ASIA: Apple is rolling out its iTunes online store to Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asian territories in a broad push to sell music and video to more users in the company’s fastest growing region.

The company said that Singapore, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos will also get their own iTunes stores.

AMERICA: More than 32,000 people have been ordered to evacuate after a fast-moving wildfire spread into the American city of Colorado Springs.

Police said there had been no reports of injuries after the fire spread quickly on Tuesday evening into the city.

NORWAY: Even if found criminally insane, mass killer Anders Breivik is likely to remain inside the walls of the prison where he has been held since his bomb and gun attacks in July.

AMERICA: A suburban mother charged with moonlighting as a big-city madam was released from a US jail on bond, after four months behind bars in a case laced with claims of prominent clients and law-enforcement protectors.

Anna Gristina walked out of a Manhattan courthouse, free for the first time since her February arrest.

AUSTRALIA: One body has been recovered after a crowded boat carrying asylum seekers to Australia capsized in the Indian Ocean.

Merchant ships have rescued 125 survivors in an area midway between Christmas Island and the main Indonesian island of Java, and an air and sea search is ongoing for as many as 20 people who could still be missing, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

It is the latest attack in a particularly bloody month as the Iraqi government struggles to provide security.

PARAGUAY: Paraguay’s former president again shifted course, saying he has decided not to attend a South American summit this week where he had planned to protest against his dismissal by Congress.

Fernando Lugo has surprised Paraguayans with conflicting announcements since the Senate voted to remove him from office last week.

BANGLADESH: Landslides and floods caused by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 76 in southern Bangladesh and rescuers are searching for more missing people, officials said.

Three days of rain have hit the region of small hills and forests, and huge chunks of earth and mud buried flimsy huts where families were sleeping.

AMERICA: Nora Ephron, the essayist, author and filmmaker who challenged and thrived in the male-dominated worlds of movies and journalism and was loved, respected and feared for her wit, has died of leukaemia. She was 71.

MEXICO: Mexican doctors have successfully removed a 33lb benign tumor from the body of a two-year-old child.

Dr Gustavo Hernandez said the tumour was heavier than the child who at the time of the June 14 surgery weighed 26lb (12kg).

JAPAN: Kazuo Hirai, the former head of Sony’s game division, will steer the struggling Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate’s turnaround as the company’s new president and chief executive.

Shareholders approved Mr Hirai after a grilling by frustrated investors at an annual meeting in Tokyo today.

ECUADOR: Ecuador’s marines have seized a semi-submersible capable of transporting 10 to 15 tons of cocaine.

The vessel was under construction on a small island in the Gulf of Guayaquil.

ROMANIA: A former Romanian prime minister arrived at a prison hospital after a court ruled he should start his two-year sentence on corruption charges despite suffering injuries from shooting himself in a suicide attempt.

Adrian Nastase arrived at Rahova prison in south Bucharest hours after the Bucharest Court ruled that there was “no impediment” for him to start serving his sentence.

VENEZUELA: Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles is demanding election officials prevent President Hugo Chavez from taking over the airwaves of the nation’s TV and radio stations for lengthy speeches while campaigning for re-election.

Mr Capriles criticised his adversary for attempting to take political advantage of special broadcasts ahead of Venezuela’s October 7 presidential election, and he demanded the National Electoral Council intervene.

CHINA: China’s cabinet has announced measures aimed at boosting Hong Kong’s anaemic economic growth ahead of a weekend visit by President Hu Jintao.

The cabinet said today it will promote Hong Kong’s status as a centre for offshore finance using the mainland’s tightly controlled currency, the yuan.

AMERICA: Rapper 50 Cent is out of hospital after being injured in a car accident in New York.

A representative for 50 Cent said he was taken to New York Hospital Queens where he was treated for “minor neck and back injuries” and is now “doing fine”.